London was calling

We just returned from a super successful bank holiday weekend! This was our first bank holiday where we flew to another country, and London did not disappoint. I have been to a lot of countries but somehow, I had never been to England before, so I was as excited as the boys were.

We landed Friday evening and despite a few hiccups at the train station, we met my husband in Marylebone in time for dinner. The Europa Cup fans were out in full force as we wandered around Soho and Piccadilly Circus, but it just added to the excitement of being in such a large city again.

Dublin feels like a farm town compared to how large and truly, overwhelmingly international London is. And while this may be a different London from 15 or 20 years ago, as my first impression of the city it was quite an adventure. Over the years the kids have been exposed to many different languages, cultures, and ways of life. Even in the US it is quite a different experience to live in the northeast vs. southern California or the deep South. And London was like experiencing all the places they’d ever visited all at the same time.

For this trip we stuck to the tried-and-true highlights – Tower Bridge, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, and St. Paul’s Cathedral to name just a very few of our stops.

London was an amazing place to visit, and I hope we go back and tour even more sites someday. But I immediately appreciated just how livable and welcoming it is to have a home in Dublin. London felt a bit anonymous and cold compared to our experiences here. Admittedly, I didn’t think there’d be that much difference between living in Dublin and a city in England, but that’s just like saying it’s the same to live in Tokyo as it is Shanghai. Those two cities could not be more different in terms of culture, customs, and attitudes towards foreigners. So once again my bias was corrected when I experienced the city for myself.  

I’ll leave you with this small example from last night. As we waited in the queue at Dublin airport for a taxi, a taxi driver asked to take my boys and I home instead of the fare he was supposed to take. He immediately launched into stories about his grandkids because my younger son looks just like his grandson. We talked the whole 30-minute ride home about places to go in Dublin and things to do around our house. As I was paying him his fare, he took Zach aside and handed him 20 Euros as a birthday present. 20 Euros! All because we chatted together for a few minutes late at night. I was stunned by his kindness.

I will admit, Dublin wasn’t my first choice for a European city. I worried it would be too small, there would not be enough to do on the weekends and we couldn’t train to other countries like you can throughout most of Europe. But like the Rolling Stones say, You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need.